Britons are three times less likely to leave money to charity after they die
than Americans, figures show.

The claim comes from the Legacy10 campaign, which wants to encourage people to give more to charity in their wills to take advantage of new tax changes which come into force on Friday.

Figures show that while only seven per cent of Britons leave a legacy in their wills, the figure is 20 per cent in America.

Roland Rudd, the public relations businessman and chairman of Legacy10, said: “The UK has fallen behind the US in terms of the number of wills being made. Across the Atlantic people are three times more likely to leave a legacy.

“The inheritance tax cut for those who leave a legacy to charity in their will from 6 April is an important first step in redressing the balance.”

Currently three quarters of people in the UK support a charity in their lifetime, yet only 7 per cent currently leave a charitable gift in their will. Giving as a share of gross domestic product is also half as much – 0.73 per cent – as in America – 1.7 per cent.

Legacy 10 said that by increasing this by just four per cent would reap a further £1 billion for good causes every year under tax changes from Friday April 6.

The campaigners want “legacy10” to become as familiar as HM Revenue and Customs’ gift aid scheme, under which charities can maximise donations by claiming back the basic rate of tax paid by the donor.

Under the changes, from Friday the inheritance tax rate will be cut from 40 per cent to 36 per cent for anyone who leaves more than 10 per cent of their net estate to charity.

This means that is no greater cost to the beneficiary if an estate donates 4 per cent or 10 per cent of the taxable wealth to charity.

Mr Rudd said the changes affected “middle Britain” because they could be exploited by anyone leaving an estate worth over £325,000. "It is a mistake to think that this is just for the super-rich," he said.

"The threshold for inheritance tax is £325,000, which means many people, especially in London and the South-East, will own properties which push them into the top bracket. This is an opportunity to revolutionise giving to our charities and cultural institutions"

A Legacy 10 spokesman added: “For those already planning to leave a legacy of 4 per cent it will cost their beneficiary no more to increase that to 10 per cent.

“Our polling shows that only 20 per cent of people are aware of the tax changes, yet when they have been given more information, over 70 per cent say they would either immediately change their wills or were open-minded about doing so.”

The campaign has so far attracted the backing of Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband.

Legacy10 has set up a website www.legacy10.com to allow readers to calculate how their estates change. Visitors can also take a pledge to support the scheme, by signing up on the website.